Behind Russia’s “Victory Day” ceremony on Svalbard was a veiled effort to build a militarised presence

Four young people dressed in naval-style uniforms were at the centre of attention during the Russian May 9 ceremony at Kapp Heer on Svalbard.

Surrounded by people waving Russian tricolours and Soviet red flags, the youngsters knelt to lay flowers beside a cannon used during the Second World War.

The ceremony was organised by the local Russian Consulate General together with Arktikugol, the Russian state-owned coal company.

The cannon at Kapp Heer was used by Norwegian forces during the war. The site is located near a Russian helicopter base.

The four young participants represented Flagman, a St Petersburg-based organisation that describes itself as a “club of young sailors”. At first glance, Flagman appears to be a civilian organisation promoting sailing among children and young people.

However, a closer look reveals links to Russian military structures.

According to the organisation, it provides “voluntary support to maritime-focused cadet classes”.

“In practice, the children receive an education equivalent to that of the Nakhimov Naval School, but without having to board at the school,” Flagman states on its website.

Among the four representatives who attended the ceremony at Kapp Heer was Arina Torkina, a front figure in many of Flagman’s activities. In photographs, she is seen instructing children dressed in military uniforms, including pupils from cadet classes connected to the Russian naval infantry.

Torkina herself wears a naval-style uniform resembling those used in the Nakhimov naval schools.

Other youth leaders in Flagman wear similar attire, while some also appear in military field uniforms. In one photograph, Torkina’s colleague Aleksandr Bytsenko is dressed in a green combat uniform during a visit to a naval diving facility.

In November 2025, Arina Torkina led a group of kids on a visit to a new war memorial in Rzhev, in Russia’s Tver region. In a video posted on her social media page, she is seen instructing young children — some apparently under the age of 10 — dressed in uniform. The visit included a stay at a camp where the children participated in military-style training, including weapons exercises.

The video also features Mikhail Soldatov, one of Flagman’s founders. Soldatov appears in military uniform greeting marching children, wearing a cap bearing military insignia.

Soldatov studied at the Nakhimov Naval School in Leningrad and later at the Kuznetsov Naval Academy. He holds the rank of First Rank Captain in the Russian Navy and spent many years commanding warships in the Northern Fleet. Among them was the destroyer Bezuderzhny. Following his retirement, he took part in several sailing competitions and expeditions.

Soldatov was part of the Flagman delegation that visited Svalbard in connection with the May 9 events. In photographs from the ceremony, he is seen in uniform alongside Torkina and the other young participants.

It was not the first time that Flagman representatives had visited Svalbard. In August 2025, a delegation led by Arina Torkina travelled to Barentsburg, where they met Russia’s Consul General Andrei Chemerilo.

The stated purpose of the visit was to discuss the “historical legacy of polar explorer V.Y. Chichagov from 1765–1766”.

However, the agenda also included discussions on the possible establishment of a local Flagman branch in Barentsburg. According to the Consulate General, the organisation had approached the local school regarding cooperation. Photographs from the meeting show Torkina and Aleksandr Bytsenko together with two local schoolchildren.

Also present was Darya Slyunyaeva, who in late 2025 was appointed head of the Russian Geographical Society’s new office in Barentsburg.

Flagman representatives are known to cooperate with the Russian Geographical Society. Photographs show Arina Torkina visiting the organisation’s headquarters in St Petersburg at least two times after 2023.

The establishment of a local Flagman branch in Barentsburg may also have been a key topic during this year’s visit to the archipelago.

The Barents Observer has requested comment from both the Consulate General and Arktikugol regarding the status of the plans to establish a Flagman branch in Barentsburg, but had received no response by the time of publication.

Barentsburg is a Russian settlement on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. It is managed by the Russian state company Arktikugol and falls under Norwegian jurisdiction through the Svalbard Treaty.

Representatives of Russian authorities have repeatedly sought to challenge Norway’s sovereignty over the archipelago.

According to Kari Aga Myklebost, Professor of Russian History at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the recent ceremony at Kapp Heer represents “authoritarian Russia asserting its presence on Svalbard, using seemingly legitimate war commemorations to normalise warmongering symbols and rhetoric in the archipelago”.

Myklebost is co-author of a recent publication on hybrid threats on Svalbard. She argues that last week’s events “continue a pattern of Russian strategic behaviour on Svalbard that we have observed regularly since 2022, with the arrival of a new Consul General and a new CEO of Trust Arktikugol in Barentsburg”.

“Through these events, Kremlin foreign policy narratives about victory in Ukraine and a Russian ‘war of defence’ are promoted, while at the same time Norway’s liberal principles concerning freedom of speech and assembly are being exploited and tested,” she said.

“Not only liberal principles but also Norwegian and wider European security are at stake. If Russia succeeds in pushing these boundaries and normalising its militarised presence on Svalbard, we may face a serious and acute security situation.”

Ildar Neverov was appointed director of Trust Arktikugol in 2022. He has actively sought to strengthen Russia’s presence on the archipelago and has been involved in several controversial initiatives, including the organisation of 9 May parades and naval parades, as well as the erection of a Russian Orthodox cross in Pyramiden.

Consul General Andrei Chemerilo was also appointed in 2022. According to reports by the Dossier Center and NRK, Chemerilo has links to Russian military intelligence (GRU).

According to Myklebost, Norway should respond through consistent pushback, as well as determined monitoring and regulation of Russian power projection on Svalbard.

“Moreover, Norway must ensure shared situational awareness among allies regarding Russian activities on Svalbard, in order to deter Russia from using the archipelago to test NATO cohesion,” the professor said.

The military-style presence at the May 9 ceremony in Kapp Heer notwithstanding, local Norwegian authorities have no plans to interfere. In a comment to newspaper Aftenposten (behind paywall), Governor of Svalbard Lars Fause said that “there is nothing about the demonstration that we find cause to react to."

"My remit is peace and stability, and acting with a long-term perspective and in a reassuring manner is always important. So far, we have succeeded well in that,” he said.